Top Twenty - Golden Age Music

and the Twenty.24s never felt
uncomfortable, wallowy or
boomy, as long as they were
not placed too close to rear
walls – I found around 50-
70cm was best and then they
came together beautifully. Even
with less thunderous source
material, the Twenty.24s left
me incredibly impressed by the
way in which they were never
too straight-laced and always
revealing of the information on
the record. They have a glorious
sense of authority and control
that they impart in a subtle but
very effective manner across all
styles of music.
As noted by Noel in his
measurements (see Measured
Performance) the Twenty.24s do
have a rise in output towards
the upper registers. However,
this is actually placed quite well
within the frequency range
– much lower and instruments
start to sound a little overblown
and, the higher the peak moves,
the more the treble can become
uncomfortably sharp and even slightly
‘hissy’ at times. In fact, the Twenty.24s
again have a very well judged balance,
offering plenty of crispness, detail
and insight to the treble but without
any of those unwanted side-effects.
Consequently, violins were
superbly outlined yet sweet, and
cymbal strikes were deliciously
snappy and vivid.
So, highs and lows were
good. What about the
middle? When considering a
loudspeaker that has a rise at
either end of the frequency
spectrum, the midband can
often be somewhat left
floundering in the middle.
Fortunately, the Twenty.24s
suffered no such issues and
turned in a beautifully balanced
performance. With my ultracritical
hat on I would say that
perhaps they do not project
vocals three-dimensionally
out into the room as well as
one or two other designs at
the price, but they certainly
never sounded constrained or
shut-in. Their overall nature
is well balanced and acoustic
instruments were well rendered.
The slight treble rise actually
combined beautifully with the
Antonio Forcione’s acoustic
guitars to add a real sense of
precise impact to every string
pluck. Furthermore, the sense
of anticipation was palpable as
Ravel’s ‘Bolero’ built up to its
crashing crescendo; from the
whisper quiet action right at the
beginning right up to the climax, the
PMCs captured everything perfectly
and had me on the edge of my seat
with excitement – always a good
sign!
CONCLUSION
The PMC Twenty.24s are a fine way
for PMC to celebrate their coming
The PMC Twenty.24 is a little different
in having a long internal acoustic line
to lose rear energy and return some
in-phase with the bass unit. This is a
form of transmission line, a difficult
principle to make work correctly,
especially in short lines like this one.
Port output peaks around 200Hz and
there is a pronounced overhang our
decay analysis shows, suggesting a bit
of boxy or chesty coloration. Otherwise,
the decay analysis is relatively clean,
meaning this is otherwise a low
coloration design. A smooth frequency
response characteristic reinforces this
feature.
However, measured on-axis treble
(green trace) from the tweeter rises
strongly to +6dB at 12kHz, sufficient
to be audible brightness. Off-axis (grey
trace) this falls to a more amenable
+3dB at 10kHz, so the speakers are
best pointed straight down a room, and
listened to off-axis by twenty degrees
or so.
Bass extends down to 55Hz, but
the lower port extends down further.
However, port output is not strong so
bass is unlikely to sound heavy. The
bass unit is well damped by the line
though the impedance curve shows, so
bass quality should be good.
Sensitivity was high at 88dB Sound
Pressure Level from one nominal watt
input (2.8V) so 40 Watts or so will give
MEASURED PERFORMANCE
of age. They take the best of the
technologies that the company
has spent 20 years developing
and update it into a sonically
effective, visually striking and
aesthetically pleasing package.
The result is a loudspeaker
that has the deep bass of a
transmission line and inside
which beats the heart of a
well-honed monitor, but yet the
whole package just seems more
approachable and a bit ‘nicer’
for want of a better word! The
result is a loudspeaker that
most certainly tells you the
truth but doesn’t quite ram it
down your throat in the way
that some older models used to.
The Twenty.24s are likely
to win over a whole new
generation of loudspeaker
buyers I believe, whilst at the
same time keeping those of
us who always liked the PMC
sound happy. As you may have
gathered, I liked them!
plenty of volume. High power amplifiers
are not needed and since impedance
measures a high 8.4 Ohms overall the
Twenty.24 is easy to drive.
The Twenty.24 will have a
bright balance but this apart it will
sound quite smooth and even. Bass
quality should be good, but some box
coloration or chestiness on male vocals
may be apparent. NK
FREQUENCY RESPONSE
+20
+10
dB
0
-10
-20
Green - driver output, on axis
Grey - off axis
Red - port output
IMPEDANCE
50
Ohms
30
10
REFERENCE SYSTEM BOX
Garrard 301 turntable
SME 309 tonearm
Ortofon Kontrapunkt b cartridge
Anatek MC1 phono stage
Naim Supernait amplifier
-30
20 100 Hz 1k 20k
0
10 Hz 1k 20k
www.hi-fiworld.co.uk JUNE 2012 HI-FI WORLD
REVIEW
HI-FI WORLD
VERDICT
Stylish, detailed, punchy and
thoroughly enjoyable, the PMC
Twenty.24s are a very welcome
addition to the loudspeaker market.
PMC TWENTY·24
PMC Loudspeakers
+44(0) 870 444 1044
www.pmc-speakers.com
)
FOR
- styling
- superb authority
- crisp, clean treble
AGAINST
- slightly recessed midrange